


Honor Thy Father

by kotoshin



Series: Paved with Good Intentions [1]
Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Crack, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Family Issues, Gen, Headcanon, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Original Character(s), Patricide, Pre-Canon, Protective Siblings, Shinra Men headcanon shit, The Author Regrets Nothing, Why is my brain trying to explain Old Man Shinra's neuroses at 3AM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-10 02:42:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20520626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotoshin/pseuds/kotoshin
Summary: Rufus Shinra finds out about Family History from an unlikely source.Alternatively, "What a woman who is as much Turk as a Mother offered in exchange for her son's future."





	Honor Thy Father

Rufus Shinra never knew his grandparents. He knew he was named after his grandfather (paternal, one Rufus Shimon Shinra), a red-headed man and innovative engineer who'd founded Shinra Manufacturing Works from Old Money and then left it to his son, Riccardo Shinra. His father had been the man to grow the small manufacturing plant of engines and weapons into the mighty Shinra Electric Power Company it was today. He hadn't thought much of the reasons behind inheriting the name of a dead man, apart from the usual homage to one's parent.

Learning that it had been a thinly veiled attempt to curry favor with his _grandfather_ upon announcement of the impending birth caused Rufus some consternation. But at least the elder Rufus Shinra had expired before the younger Rufus Shinra ever drew breath, sparing Rufus the ignominy of being afflicted with the suffix **JR**, or even Goddess forbid, _Rufus Shimon Shinra the II_.

He had not known there were branches in the family tree other than his own illegitimate half-siblings - _(Lazard, Cloud, Evan - were there others?)_ \- so the knowledge that his father had **NOT** been an only child was a shock, and the first of many.

**"June 20, 1973 - Charity Lunch at Shinra Orphanage Foundation"**

The aged photo was taken 25 years ago at one of Shinra's most well known orphanages; the creatively named Shinra Orphanage Foundation. It had been founded by the elder Rufus Shinra after one of Gaia's many inter-City-States wars. That Rufus Shinra looked like a kind man, dark red hair streaked with grey and serious expression softened by laugh lines around his eyes and mouth; as he crouched to accept flowers from a small blonde girl with delicate features, who looked about 6. The man looked like Rufus might in another fifty years; but with the barest hint of Wutai heritage as a slight almond slant to the dark eyes - the remaining difference if there was honest warmth where Rufus only grew up with cold deceit.

The eldest son, Allodo Shinra was light haired - judging by the shade, the mid-twenty-ish man was a platinum blonde and his expression was aloof and alert, standing a fair distance apart to watch his father and siblings. He wore his hair like a younger Rufus once did, short bangs cropped stylishly to shadow the fierce sharpness in ice blue eyes. Rufus recognized that stance - Turk and protector and on _guard_, one that probably had an easily accessible gun concealed under the long trenchcoat and dark suit. The man was supposed to have founded the Turks, after all - independently and without his father's support, originally as an intercontinental _**POLICE**_ force, of all things. He'd attached the Turks to the Company when it became evident that the Company needed the Turks' services to guard company secrets from competitors' industrial espionage; and only added Shinra's internal audit to Turk Responsibilities the first time President Riccardo Shinra tried to breach the terms of the Turks' compensation contract.

The second son, Riccardo Shinra had the plastic smile plastered on his face for such publicity occasions, but Rufus noticed the stiffness in his posturing, evident even in the faded photo. It was youngest photo Rufus had ever seen of his father, dressed smartly in a white suit, perfectly tailored with mousse-slicked blonde hair. It reminded the Shinra Heir that despite the lump of lard that his father became, even that man was once young and fit and considered attractive by women not solely for his power and money. There was a familiar arrogance to the way he held his body, and covetous greed in the way he looked at the elder Shinra and the girl, with a not-so-well hidden aura of general resentment that was the single unharmonious note to the publicity photo. The way the younger Riccardo stood by _his_ father's right hand reminds Rufus of a waiting hyena ready to pounce on a carcass as soon as the stronger predator left.

And now that Rufus knew what his father's tastes ran to in women, he was quietly sickened by his own insight when he remembered Tseng's reports on Turk recruitment and in the _alternative_ curriculum Riccardo Shinra had installed in the Shinra-sponsored orphanages - perverting both the gesture of generousity the elder Rufus Shinra wrought, and the practical trades and apprenticeships Allodo Shinra intended to bolster the Turks' ranks or to give OPTIONS for otherwise underprivileged war orphans.

He turns to the last man - still a teenaged boy, really, in the photo. The youngest son, Giotto Shinra had tousled blonde hair as wild as Cloud Strife with bed head, and didn't look as if he _cared_ what a ridiculously rumpled sight he'd looked compared to his designer pinstripe vest and dress pants, matching jacket carelessly stuffed under an arm. His smile was wide and bright and _infectious_, the light brown eyes warm as he had his hands over his knees, also in a listening pose to the orphanage's representative in thanking the Shinra men.

Dead and gone now, all save two in the photo - Riccardo Shinra, President of Shinra. And the orphan girl in the photo, who would grow up one day to be the Turk code named Windy. It was easy to see why she'd have held onto the photo, her life having been touched by all but one of the Shinra men there; and changed, for better or worse.

The elder Rufus Shinra was the benefactor who gave a refuge.

Allodo Shinra, founder of the Turks, gave her education and her chosen career.

Riccardo Shinra, soon to be the unlamented late President of Shinra, who sired her only child Cloud Strife.

Before Rufus sat the petite, harmless looking woman and three files: The first meticulously recorded with the objectivity every Turk personnel file had, the resume qualifiers, missions history, evaluations from recruitment to termination. The second was a debriefing file usually found in the format for Turk surveillance targets, and covered medical history as well as personal life history and perceived weaknesses.

The first two files chronicled her history from orphan to Turk and Shinra mistress, then mother and false widow. They somehow divided the facts so that both were true but gave the impression of two different women, not one. Combined, they explained much - like the decision to choose Cloud Strife and early retirement - because he was the only child she could ever have of her body, and there were no second chances. The third file explained why she willingly remained in obscurity to raise a child in a backwater town like Nibelheim - until she considered her chick old enough to leave the nest, and herself ready to come out of retirement with a more advanced degree than the one she left with.

"You're hired," Rufus heard himself say. "See to it that the paperwork is processed and dated _appropriately_, Tseng."

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was born out of insomnia at 3AM when I asked my brain "How can I make Cloud's mom RELEVANT, not a wilting wallflower and still slept with a dirty old man like President Shinra?"
> 
> Brain: "She's a TURK, DUH."
> 
> VONGOLA SECONDO (who actually doesn't have a canon name, despite it being COMMONLY Riccardo) and SHIMON COZART DO NOT ACTUALLY APPEAR in this fic, I just borrowed the names. Because President Shinra is a Dickhead, and I needed an Italian variant for "Richard", and because Rufus' grandfather has RED HAIR in this headcanon. 
> 
> (FYI: [Natural red-haired Asians Do Exist](https://www.quora.com/Are-there-naturally-red-headed-Asians), usually from First-Gen mixing of Mongolian/Caucausian blood - This becomes Important later for Plot Reasons.)
> 
> If I actually get to writing the other parts of this Shinra Men backhistory, all of Vongola Primo Gen Will Be in it except Lampo because I couldn't get in touch with his muse OR file off the serial numbers in a way that HE'D fit. To help people visualize; here's some pixiv fanart links to [Allodo in his usual trenchcoat, tie and shirt,](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/16340827) and [Giotto with Cloud Strife bed head XD](https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=27145204). Not a white suit, but this was my [young!Riccardo](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/54874511) and [Grandpa Shinra ](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/12916935) (can't find an older looking fanart) inspirations.
> 
> The CHANGE in the spelling of Alaude/Alaudi's name is deliberate to keep it consistent for the Italian naming convention/theme.
> 
> Shit went down, Shinra has more Ties with Wutai than Rufus has EVER realized; and it wasn't WHOLLY his Old Man Shinra's fault the world went to hell in a handbasket.


End file.
